It was about seven years ago that I was working as a gardener on temple square for the second time in my life. My area included the runnels (man-made rivers) behind the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, the Church Office Building area, the Relief Society Building area, portions of North Temple and State Street, and the Brigham Young Park across the street from the Church Office Building. Oh, and there was one more tiny area that we got to maintain, the Hinckley's personal flower bed and tomato plants on their balcony.
I loved being a gardener on temple square. There is something in me that loves to be in good rich soil, using my hands, working hard and making things look good! I learned a lot during the two different times I was employed there, before and after my mission. I even considered going into horticulture for a time because I loved it so much.
One of my favorite weekly tasks was to go over to the Hinckley apartment and maintain their flowers. Because of security reasons we could never go over there when President Hinckley was at home, but Sister Hinckley would often be there, and would even come out on the balcony and chat with us on occasion.
It was neat to look into the windows of the home office of the prophet and see what books he had stacked on his desk and must be studying. It was nice to have Sister Hinckley to chat with about flowers, her tomato plants, and the beauty the Creator intended for us to enjoy. There was such a cool feeling, just being on their balcony.
When Sister Hinckley died seven years ago, President Monson did most of the logistical arrangements for her funeral on temple square. He knew that Sister Hinckley's favorite flower was the lilac, and so he wanted the tabernacle to be overflowing with them. We only had so many lilac bushes in the Brigham Young Park, and couldn't take all of their blossoms. So one day, my co-workers and I loaded into one of the church vans in our rain gear, and drove up to Centerville, where my boss lived. We knew that there would be plenty of lilac bushes up there, and were given the directive to go and ask people if they would be willing to donate some of their lilac blossoms for Sister Hinckley's funeral.
We spent the better part of a rainy day knocking on doors and explaining that we were in need of some lilacs for Sister Hinckley's funeral. We were never turned away, and we were able to collect plenty of blossoms to fill the tabernacle with their sweet fragrance. We attended the funeral of this humble woman who had spoken with us sweetly as we worked on her balcony.
The lilacs in town are in bloom. Rarely do I walk by a lilac bush without thinking about Sister Hinckley and the wonderful woman she was.
17 May 2010
13 May 2010
Karma
Disclaimer: I do realize that by sharing the following story, I am setting myself up for some serious lectures from all sorts of people. I accept that, and still have decided to share this story because it is pretty funny to me. Just another day in my life.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to put my bus driving skills to a real test. The middle school teachers planned to attend Education Day sponsored by the Reno Aces Baseball Team, and asked if I would be willing to drive them and then attend the game as a chaperone. I had a few concerns about driving such a large vehicle in a more heavily trafficked area, but was reassured by all three of the other teachers attending that they knew EXACTLY where we were going and how to get there, so I wouldn't have to worry about any major turnarounds and re-routing.
When we arrived at our destination, I realized that none of them knew where we were going, nor did they completely grasp how the whole field trip was organized. It was somewhat fun to try and figure it all out, and I even had one of the teachers extremely nervous because she thought I was going to hit some parked cars on the side of the road. We had a close call when I almost turned down a street that we would have had to back out of, but I was able to swing the front end back out onto the main road before we had passed the point of no return.
Once we finally got the students and two teachers to the ball park we were faced with another dilemma; where do we park the bus in a city? We were given a map to a place where another school district was parking their buses for the day, but my navigator couldn't read the map which necessitated more turning around; not an easy feat in a bus. When she finally read the directions to me, I knew where we were supposed to go. The place where they wanted us to park our bus was about three miles from the ball park. This wouldn't have been a problem for any old bus driver because it's not very often that bus drivers are also participants in the field trip. It was a big problem for us, mostly because we had a large cooler bag of ice and water, and my co-worker has a bad knee.
As we were driving over to the parking area, my co-worker kept complaining about how far away we were getting from the field and I told her that we were going to hitch hike on the way back. At first I was kidding, but then the more I thought about it, and then prayed about it, it didn't seem like the wrong thing to do. I have had to hitch hike at other times in my life and didn't really feel that it would be such a bad thing in this situation either. She told me that she WOULD NOT hitch hike. After we loaded everything up and started carrying the heavy cooler between us, she started complaining. I told her that I was going to stick my thumb out, and I did. After a while she looked over and realized that I really was sticking my thumb out and told me to put it down. I had only had it out for about two minutes when a little two-door, hatch-back CRV pulled over.
My co-worker was saying that she was not going to get in any car, but as the driver got out, he walked to his hatch-back and popped it open for us to put our cooler in. He asked how far we were going and we told him. He said he was going about a block away from there and would take us. The funny part was that my co-worker, who is usually extremely strong-willed and outspoken, was as quiet as a mouse.
There were already two people in this vehicle, one in the front who was so hammered that he couldn't get out to let us in, and one in the back holding a cat. We had to push the man and the seat forward to slide into the back seat. My co-worker made me get in first, so I slid next to the woman in the back seat with the cat. My co-worker made it in next to me with little difficulty, but started crossing herself and saying her "Mother Mary...." prayers as soon as no one was looking at her.
I made small talk with the woman in the back seat and the driver as we went to the ball field in their little CRV. The man in the passenger seat would occasionally try to join the conversation, but was usually cut off by the driver because his words were so slurred and slow. The cat started to freak out and crawl all over and claw at my feet. When he made it to my co-worker's feet, she kind of let out a little squeal and jumped. We were in the car no longer than five minutes and got out right in front of the field.
We thanked the driver for the ride and finished our conversation about the good karma coming his way for picking us up, then made our way over to the gates. My co-worker was in absolute shock that we had just hitch hiked. She was kind of hitting me for making her get in the car, but grateful that we didn't have to walk the three miles to the game. She is a paranoid mother though, and swore that she would never tell her daughters what I made her do.
Somehow I knew that we would be okay, and that it wasn't a bad thing to do at that time. We didn't tell the students, but the two other teachers thought it was hilarious! When we got back to the school my co-worker had our vice principal in tears as she told him the story. I know that hitch hiking is inherently not the best or first option one should resort to in any situation, but I did it in this situation, as I have in other situations, and things were okay. But don't worry, I'm not going to make it a habit.
Have you ever seen someone on the side of the road either broken down or hitch hiking, and your heart went out to them? Have you ever stopped and helped someone in that situation? I can respond in the affirmative in both instances. Remember this as you read. It will all make sense eventually.
This week I have had the chance to play bus driver for a few field trips. We went to a funeral home on Monday for our CSI class, and it was an informative visit. The driving was a bit rough in a few places; when a bus scrapes bottom, it scrapes bottom for a looooong time because so much of it hangs over the wheels.Yesterday I had the opportunity to put my bus driving skills to a real test. The middle school teachers planned to attend Education Day sponsored by the Reno Aces Baseball Team, and asked if I would be willing to drive them and then attend the game as a chaperone. I had a few concerns about driving such a large vehicle in a more heavily trafficked area, but was reassured by all three of the other teachers attending that they knew EXACTLY where we were going and how to get there, so I wouldn't have to worry about any major turnarounds and re-routing.
When we arrived at our destination, I realized that none of them knew where we were going, nor did they completely grasp how the whole field trip was organized. It was somewhat fun to try and figure it all out, and I even had one of the teachers extremely nervous because she thought I was going to hit some parked cars on the side of the road. We had a close call when I almost turned down a street that we would have had to back out of, but I was able to swing the front end back out onto the main road before we had passed the point of no return.
Once we finally got the students and two teachers to the ball park we were faced with another dilemma; where do we park the bus in a city? We were given a map to a place where another school district was parking their buses for the day, but my navigator couldn't read the map which necessitated more turning around; not an easy feat in a bus. When she finally read the directions to me, I knew where we were supposed to go. The place where they wanted us to park our bus was about three miles from the ball park. This wouldn't have been a problem for any old bus driver because it's not very often that bus drivers are also participants in the field trip. It was a big problem for us, mostly because we had a large cooler bag of ice and water, and my co-worker has a bad knee.
As we were driving over to the parking area, my co-worker kept complaining about how far away we were getting from the field and I told her that we were going to hitch hike on the way back. At first I was kidding, but then the more I thought about it, and then prayed about it, it didn't seem like the wrong thing to do. I have had to hitch hike at other times in my life and didn't really feel that it would be such a bad thing in this situation either. She told me that she WOULD NOT hitch hike. After we loaded everything up and started carrying the heavy cooler between us, she started complaining. I told her that I was going to stick my thumb out, and I did. After a while she looked over and realized that I really was sticking my thumb out and told me to put it down. I had only had it out for about two minutes when a little two-door, hatch-back CRV pulled over.
My co-worker was saying that she was not going to get in any car, but as the driver got out, he walked to his hatch-back and popped it open for us to put our cooler in. He asked how far we were going and we told him. He said he was going about a block away from there and would take us. The funny part was that my co-worker, who is usually extremely strong-willed and outspoken, was as quiet as a mouse.
There were already two people in this vehicle, one in the front who was so hammered that he couldn't get out to let us in, and one in the back holding a cat. We had to push the man and the seat forward to slide into the back seat. My co-worker made me get in first, so I slid next to the woman in the back seat with the cat. My co-worker made it in next to me with little difficulty, but started crossing herself and saying her "Mother Mary...." prayers as soon as no one was looking at her.
I made small talk with the woman in the back seat and the driver as we went to the ball field in their little CRV. The man in the passenger seat would occasionally try to join the conversation, but was usually cut off by the driver because his words were so slurred and slow. The cat started to freak out and crawl all over and claw at my feet. When he made it to my co-worker's feet, she kind of let out a little squeal and jumped. We were in the car no longer than five minutes and got out right in front of the field.
We thanked the driver for the ride and finished our conversation about the good karma coming his way for picking us up, then made our way over to the gates. My co-worker was in absolute shock that we had just hitch hiked. She was kind of hitting me for making her get in the car, but grateful that we didn't have to walk the three miles to the game. She is a paranoid mother though, and swore that she would never tell her daughters what I made her do.
Somehow I knew that we would be okay, and that it wasn't a bad thing to do at that time. We didn't tell the students, but the two other teachers thought it was hilarious! When we got back to the school my co-worker had our vice principal in tears as she told him the story. I know that hitch hiking is inherently not the best or first option one should resort to in any situation, but I did it in this situation, as I have in other situations, and things were okay. But don't worry, I'm not going to make it a habit.
09 May 2010
What's in a Name?
I decided that I am not busy enough (don't pay attention to the sarcasm dripping off those words) so I picked up another team to coach. I was already helping coach two high school-aged girls teams, and just added a U8 team. This is a young team, just girls, and it's 5 v 5 without goal keepers. Simple stuff right? ( :
We had our first game on Saturday and I only had four girls show up. The other coach was gracious enough to play us 4 v 4 so it was somewhat even, although he had about four subs. Before the game started we warmed up a bit and then we were talking about some important things like how we were going to set up on the field and what our team name should be. When I asked the girls what they wanted our team name to be, one said that she wanted our name to be 'the pink cupcakes.' I stifled a laugh and asked if there were any other suggestions for our team name. Another girl said she wanted our name to be 'the pink flames.' (I was really grateful that someone had another suggestion-cupcakes don't necessarily strike fear into their opponents hearts.) I said that we would take a vote. Out of the four girls, two raised their hands for 'the pink cupcakes' and THREE raised their hands for 'the pink flames.' I told the girl that voted twice that she could only vote once. Then I asked her which one she wanted the most. She sat there and literally tapped her chin as she looked from one girl to the next, trying to figure out which person she liked more. I finally just said that we were going to be 'the pink flames' that day, and maybe we could change our name for the next game.
Since there were only four girls, they stayed in the whole time. Only one of them brought water. The three other girls were drooling between each quarter as the one girl drank her water. She finally shared a bit, except that one girl said her mom wouldn't want her to share, so she didn't have any.
Two of the girls had a really good head about the game and were successful in both offense and defense. One of the girls just kept asking if we had to keep running and how much longer until she could go home. The last little girl would run away from the ball (even if it was just sitting there) and actually run all the way around 'the pack' of girls surrounding the ball if it started moving her way. A few times she even screamed as someone started running in her direction.
Good times. Let's just say that it was entertaining to watch and try to herd my little team! I can't wait for our second game tomorrow night!
We had our first game on Saturday and I only had four girls show up. The other coach was gracious enough to play us 4 v 4 so it was somewhat even, although he had about four subs. Before the game started we warmed up a bit and then we were talking about some important things like how we were going to set up on the field and what our team name should be. When I asked the girls what they wanted our team name to be, one said that she wanted our name to be 'the pink cupcakes.' I stifled a laugh and asked if there were any other suggestions for our team name. Another girl said she wanted our name to be 'the pink flames.' (I was really grateful that someone had another suggestion-cupcakes don't necessarily strike fear into their opponents hearts.) I said that we would take a vote. Out of the four girls, two raised their hands for 'the pink cupcakes' and THREE raised their hands for 'the pink flames.' I told the girl that voted twice that she could only vote once. Then I asked her which one she wanted the most. She sat there and literally tapped her chin as she looked from one girl to the next, trying to figure out which person she liked more. I finally just said that we were going to be 'the pink flames' that day, and maybe we could change our name for the next game.
Since there were only four girls, they stayed in the whole time. Only one of them brought water. The three other girls were drooling between each quarter as the one girl drank her water. She finally shared a bit, except that one girl said her mom wouldn't want her to share, so she didn't have any.
Two of the girls had a really good head about the game and were successful in both offense and defense. One of the girls just kept asking if we had to keep running and how much longer until she could go home. The last little girl would run away from the ball (even if it was just sitting there) and actually run all the way around 'the pack' of girls surrounding the ball if it started moving her way. A few times she even screamed as someone started running in her direction.
Good times. Let's just say that it was entertaining to watch and try to herd my little team! I can't wait for our second game tomorrow night!
07 May 2010
What do I look like?
Yesterday was probably my favorite day of 2010 so far. It was such an amazing day!
My stake has this strong push to go to our stake temple day. We had one in October and it was pretty sweet because I took the whole day off and spent about four hours in the temple. What a good experience. This go around I got to spend more time in the temple and was able to participate in all of the ordinances performed therein. It was a long, wonderful, spiritual day that I needed more than I realized. It was nice to just be still and feel of the peace that God is in control of all things, and will organize the experiences I have to be of the most benefit to me. It felt good to spend a day in service and prayer.
When I was in a certain part of the temple, one of the temple workers whispered the question, "Did you play sports when you were younger?" I answered in the affirmative and the next time I saw her, I asked why she had pinned me as an athlete when I was younger. This was her answer, "You just have the look of a super hero." What?! What is that supposed to mean? I didn't quite know how to react to that, so I didn't. You may be asking yourself, as I did, "What does the 'look' of a super hero look like?" I guess it looks a little like me, in the temple. But I am pretty sure that most people in the temple are super heroes... ( :
My stake has this strong push to go to our stake temple day. We had one in October and it was pretty sweet because I took the whole day off and spent about four hours in the temple. What a good experience. This go around I got to spend more time in the temple and was able to participate in all of the ordinances performed therein. It was a long, wonderful, spiritual day that I needed more than I realized. It was nice to just be still and feel of the peace that God is in control of all things, and will organize the experiences I have to be of the most benefit to me. It felt good to spend a day in service and prayer.
When I was in a certain part of the temple, one of the temple workers whispered the question, "Did you play sports when you were younger?" I answered in the affirmative and the next time I saw her, I asked why she had pinned me as an athlete when I was younger. This was her answer, "You just have the look of a super hero." What?! What is that supposed to mean? I didn't quite know how to react to that, so I didn't. You may be asking yourself, as I did, "What does the 'look' of a super hero look like?" I guess it looks a little like me, in the temple. But I am pretty sure that most people in the temple are super heroes... ( :
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